NEW TESTAMENT Revelation 1: 4b - 8 (RCL, C of E)
Revelation 1: 5 - 8 (Roman Catholic)

Reve 1:4 (NRSV) Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
7 Look! He is coming with the clouds;
every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.
So it is to be. Amen.
8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

Notes h/t http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/BEpChristtheKing.htm

The formal framework was a structure within which to include major emphases and significant themes, especially those pertaining to the letter which followed. This is certainly the case here. It is no casual greeting. It is no ordinary grace and peace, but grace and peace from a special source. John is wishing his readers grace and peace from God. It is, in fact, more complex. John describes God as "The one who is", an allusion to the Old Testament tradition in Exodus according to which God interpreted his name as meaning: "I am who I am".

Then, as now, this description opens a range of possibilities. It was a way that some non Jews also loved to speak of their gods. It evokes a sense of the Being who is beyond and within all being. The two additional descriptions, "The one who was and the coming one", give a dimension of time. If "the one who is" invites us to think of the here and now and to contemplate the spatial dimensions, the terms, "the one who was" and "the one who is to come", evoke a sense of time and timelessness: in the beginning - and in the end: God; and in the midst of life: God. This is all embracing, combining a sense of origin with a sense of destiny and at the same time a sense of presence.

GOSPEL John 18: 33 - 37 (all)

John 18:33 (NRSV) Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" 34 Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" 35 Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?" 36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here." 37 Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."

Note the Roman Catholic lectionary omits the first part of v. 33.

Notes h/t //montreal.anglican.org

Pilate goes inside the praetorium and asks Jesus: are you the leader of a revolutionary movement? In return, Jesus asks him: Is this question your idea, based on what you have heard, or did others put you up to it? Pilate shows his scorn for Jews; the religious authorities seek your death, but what grounds are there for killing you

Jesus puts into words the dilemma he has been in throughout his ministry: though conscious of an absolute authority, and of Davidic descent, he has known that to assert his authority by force would ruin the purpose for which he has come

Pilate’s suspicion of the high priests is already apparent

Pilate was prefect of Judea from 26 to 36 AD